"Are You Ever Surprised?"

gone · Nov 28, 2013

I never get the image that I saw. That's why I love photography.

pstake · Nov 28, 2013

I think it's an illusion that you get exactly what you want, or that you know exactly what was captured and how, with digital.

You can see on the LCD screen, sure, but with a little experience you can be as confident about what you captured on film.

Either way, you don't know that everything turned out exactly right until you get the image enlarged, either on a computer screen or on photographic paper.

Prof_Pixel · Nov 28, 2013

pstake said:
I think it's an illusion that you get exactly what you want, or that you know exactly what was captured and how, with digital.

You can see on the LCD screen, sure, but with a little experience you can be as confident about what you captured on film.

How about things like eye blinks and strange smiles?

pstake · Nov 29, 2013

Prof_Pixel said:
How about things like eye blinks and strange smiles?

Yes, those things often are not caught until the photo is enlarged.

Chan Tran · Nov 29, 2013

The results sometimes are not what I expected but it's rare. I would agree with her that instant confirmation with digital is an advantage. I think it's the biggest advantage digital can offer. Other things not really.

eddie · Nov 29, 2013

jnanian said:
no so much surprised in getting what i photographed, but surprised that i chose to photograph what i did
sometimes it takes 6months or a few years to look when i have "distance"
and then i say " huh, now i know what i was thinking "

I think the distance you get, between shooting, and printing, is one of the reasons I shoot film. The distance allows me to view the image with fresh eyes, and expectations.

MattKing · Nov 29, 2013

This thread title made me smile.

I was at a photo shoot last year with some of the members of my Darkroom Group. One of the others took a shot of the orchards at the location, and the old farmhouse in the background.

He liked the result, so he had it enlarged to 11x14 or so.

It was only after he looked closely at the enlargement that he noticed the guy in the corner who was clearly (very clearly!) urinating against one of the trees.

My friend was surprised.

MartinCrabtree · Nov 29, 2013

Newt_on_Swings · Nov 29, 2013

Yea when shooting a rangefinder and when you develop the negs to see veiling glare in the shots with an slr I can usually use my hand as a shade in those trickier situations but i have to approximate with a rangefinder and try not to get my hand innthe shot based on viewfinder flare even with a lens shade.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Copyhat · Nov 29, 2013

I'm thinking of having a notebook and a pencil in the camera bag to take notes of what I am thinking of and the camera's settings - empirical evidence of how you did that awesome shot could prove worthwile.

I'm just surprised over some guesswork I did with long exposure night shots that turned out much better than expected. Still only my second ever roll of colour film that has been developed and printed, so there's always room for improvement though.

I shoot at night with friends who are both analog and digital lovers, it's entertaining no matter what person I accompany.

Claudia Moroni · Dec 1, 2013

I'm almost always surprised as I've not mastered the materials I use yet and I'm also experimenting a lot, so every developing session is a journey of discovery

Unfortunately I'm also prone to accidents, so I get many weird surprises too

The pictures above are all accidental double exposure. The last one is still a mystery to me as it happened with a Mamiya C3 and all the other pictures on the roll are single exposures.

Then I have a whole series of mysterious light leaks/flares that happen randomly with different cameras

Here the film got stuck to a wet reel

Here I opened the camera back without rewinding the film because I hadn't shot 35mm in ages and I forgot that you're supposed to rewind the film at the end, doh.

I am often disappointed while developing old films because the image in my head is better than the one on film. I often expect great photos out of situations where I was overexcited about the light or the subject and they turn out very boring.

MattKing · Dec 1, 2013

Claudia:

If those are the sorts of accidents you have, you should try for more!

Copyhat · Dec 1, 2013

Claudia Moroni said:
I'm almost always surprised as I've not mastered the materials I use yet and I'm also experimenting a lot, so every developing session is a journey of discovery

Unfortunately I'm also prone to accidents, so I get many weird surprises too

Those surprises look awesome!

Heinz · Dec 2, 2013

Claudia, I really enjoyed your selection of accidents, they all add to the images - however that is because the images without accident would have been also great!

ataim · Dec 2, 2013

I was surprised to find several rolls of film in old box of photographic stuff. One roll was from a birthday party of an OLD friend. I was surprised how skinny I was 30 years ago. The prints are pretty bad, but hey, 30 years of being tossed around is not too bad.

TheFlyingCamera · Dec 2, 2013

I'm rarely surprised in the negative - now that I've learned how to read light in a scene, use my light meter appropriately, and make generally good negatives, I rarely have a dud except through user error. I am occasionally surprised when I take a gamble in a non-typical lighting situation (extreme back/side-lighting, night scenes, etc) and it turns out better than expected, or I just get a happy accident that the film captures something that looks way better in the print than I ever had any right to expect.

"Are You Ever Surprised?"

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